Zirconia no Hana
by Ms. Kreatopita
Summary: What if Creed had actually been right about Saya? In this slightly AU fic, Creed discovers the startling truth about the woman his partner is falling for. Now only he can stop the "witch" before she literally destroys Train.
1. The Hardest Rock

Summary: What if Creed had been right about Saya? In this slightly AU fic, Creed discovers the startling truth about the woman his partner is falling for. Only he can destroy the "witch" before she literally destroys Train.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Black Cat or any of its characters. Any original characters may not be used without permission.

**Author's Note:** Sorry, Train/Saya shippers, but I wanted to explore the whole sort of "love triangle" thing at a stark new angle. No like, no read, simple as that.

**Zirconia no Hana**

**Chapter 1: The Hardest Rock**

Creed Diskenth hid himself among the shadows of the warehouse ceiling rafters. He flattened his body against the cool metallic bars and gazed at the sight below. Eleven figures formed a semicircle around one central figure, the head of Luster Corporations. Though not as large as Chronos, this organization was expanding very rapidly and with each day it came closer and closer to becoming a world power. What Creed was looking down upon now was a meeting of the Gemstones, Luster Corp's private division of agents, who served a purpose similar to that of the Numbers to Chronos. Unlike Chronos, though, women made up the majority here, and nobody wore a uniform or anything to distinguish them from civilians. Had Creed not been filled in on the details by Belze, he would have thought he was simply investigating another ordinary team of criminals. The benefits of the information he was going to gather far outweighed any fears of vertigo he might have had with only a steel bar and a thirty-foot drop separating him from them. So far, Creed's silent infiltration had gone unnoticed.

"You summoned us, Commander Garnet?" inquired one of the only three men in the group, who stood directly to the center man's left.

"That is correct, Agent Citrine. I have your new assignments, effective immediately." Garnet looked around at each of the agents in turn before returning his attention to Citrine. "You are to accompany Agent Emerald and Agent Pearl to Sangeles City and negotiate tax enforcement with the state leaders I told you about." The man named Citrine, along with the two women next to him, gave a nod of acknowledgement. "Agents Opal, Ruby, and Topaz: you three women will need to eliminate the Chronos Erasers that have been disrupting our business in Sector 25. Agents Peridot and Aquamarine," continued Garnet, turning now to the other two men at his direct right, who each had an eyebrow piercing, "a large order of stones is being shipped to the Esilda Treasury this afternoon. I need you two to select a team of ten or so strong Rocks to guard the cargo with you. Agents Amethyst and Sapphire will stay here in town and continue surveillance on the Chronos Numbers IV and VIII." The two women with lip piercings nodded. From what Creed could see, only one person in the group had not yet been given an assignment.

"You know what you have to do, Agent Diamond," stated the man in the middle, addressing the woman straight in front of him. Her jet black hair flowed down to her waist, but since he stood directly above her, Creed could not see her face at all. "The Chronos Number you've been assigned to is difficult to handle. This being so, I cannot disclose the details of your mission in the presence of your colleagues, but I will say that since she is to be a civilian in disguise, the rest of you are not to establish contact with Agent Diamond at any time for any reason. And for god sakes, cut your h--"

Before Garnet could finish his sentence, the sound of a blade slashing through the air interrupted him. Thousands of strands of hair fluttered to the floor with a soft thud. Where there was once a cascade of black hair, there only remained a short bob. The woman sheathed her knife as quickly as she had taken it out. "You have nothing to worry about, Commander Garnet," Agent Diamond responded. "But what about my ring? All of the Chronos Numbers are familiar with the design of the rings, and I will still have to have identification on my person twenty-four/seven."

Garnet stepped forward and placed a rough hand on her shoulder. "This is why you're one of the Corporation's most dedicated associates, Diamond, always thinking ahead. Indeed, we'll need to make sure you still have your official Jewel on your body at all times. Your current cartilage piercing would not suit the role you must play. Would you be objected to a navel piercing?"

Diamond gave a wan smile. "I always wanted an excuse to pierce my belly button, sir."

Garnet smirked as he muttered, "Always the eager one, my dear. That concludes our meeting; everyone is now dismissed!" And with that, the four men and eight women left the warehouse to commence their respective duties. Diamond scampered off too quickly for the hidden Eraser to get a better look at her.

Creed's job here was done. Now he could report back to headquarters and inform Sephiria and Belze of the Gemstones' most recent plans. Creed had a feeling that this "Agent Diamond" was the one they would have to worry about the most. Luster rarely attacked Chronos in such a discreet manner; who of the Chronos Numbers could possibly need to be taken out by an agent incognito?

**Post-Story Notes:** Each of the Gemstones is given a specially crafted Jewel that can be distinguished using a special scanner. Every agent gets a ring by default, but they are also required to have at least one piercing to place a Jewel in the instance that wearing a ring would endanger the agent (the rings can be easily identified and it is strictly against protocol to wear it on a neck chain). Ruby and Emerald have opposite nose studs; Amethyst has an upper lip piercing; Sapphire has a lower lip piercing; Aquamarine and Peridot have opposite eyebrow piercings; the other six have their piercing somewhere on their ear, each agent in a different place. Diamond is the first agent whose case requires a non-visible piercing.


	2. Geological Survey

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Black Cat or any of its characters. Any original characters may not be used without permission.

**Zirconia no Hana**

**Chapter 2: Geological Survey**

Back at headquarters, Creed recounted what he saw to Belze as accurately as he could. The two stood in the Number's office with the door open, since any info gathered on Luster would soon become common knowledge within Chronos. Just as he was describing the mission of the enigmatic Agent Diamond, Sephiria walked by but then immediately back-tracked upon hearing the words "specifically targeting a single Number but I'm not sure which one."

"And what did you say this agent's codename was?" Sephiria wanted to clarify, entering the office of her subordinate.

"Diamond," replied Creed, "Do we have any information on her?"

Sephiria shook her head. "I watched Nizer kill the previous Agent Diamond with my own two eyes a few weeks ago. This must be a Rock who was just recently promoted to Gemstone. Did you get a good look at her face?

The Eraser shook his head. "All I could see was the top of her head for almost the entire time, and she left so quickly that I couldn't see her face. So all I know is that she has short black hair and high voice." Creed scoffed as he said this, knowing that his description could easily apply to about a tenth of the world's population. But suddenly he also remembered a small detail. "That Garnet man did say something about Diamond needing a navel piercing because she had to keep her 'Jewel' with her at all times and her cartilage piercing is somehow 'out of character'. Why would she need to do that?"

"It's for identification purposes," answered Sephiria, "just like the Roman numerals tattooed on each of the Numbers. But unlike us, the Gemstones use neither specialized weapons nor uniforms. Since they operate on a civilian level, it is hard to tell who is an agent and who is not. The Jewels are synthetically crafted in such a way that they respond to a certain type of laser scanner. You might have seen some Gemstones with rings on, but those are merely a formality. Their true means of identification lies in the body jewelry."

"As a matter of fact, Luster Corps pays people to go around with gemstone piercings in order to throw off other organizations," cut in Belze. "We've only been able to solidly identify Agents Amethyst and Sapphire based upon their repeated assaults on Baldor and Kranz. Usually, when we find a Gemstone, they are taken out immediately, but unlike our Numbers, they are replaced within hours. That's why we can rarely keep accurate records on the Gemstones. Once we eliminate one, another one pops up like a weed. "

"We would have to figure out the Number which Diamond would be targeting, and we can start by narrowing them down based on their threat to Luster," reasoned Sephiria. She counted off on her fingers as she went through her mental list of the Chronos Numbers out loud. "Lowe, Anubis, Pepper and Mason are definitely out of the question since they stay at headquarters almost all the time and it's fully protected. That said, they wouldn't dare send an agent to spy on me or Belze. Baldor and Kranz have been constantly harassed by Amethyst and Sapphire, so it's unlikely that they would put two agents to the same man."

"They could very well be after Nizer for having killed the previous Agent Diamond, maybe even Ash," pointed out Belze.

Sephiria nodded in agreement. "On the other hand, we have Hazard with his known weakness for women, and Heartnet with his uncontrollably large reputation as an assassin.

"So we're basically down to numbers V, VII, X, and XIII," concluded Creed, who had hardly spoken the whole time.

"From what it sounds like, they plan to have Agent Diamond planted into the chosen Number's environment beyond these walls," Belze hypothesized. "It could be anyone they meet from here on out; a waitress, a landlady, some random woman they might choose to meet up with afterhours…Those four are going to have to be monitored pretty carefully, watched like hawks, as they say."

"I wholeheartedly agree, Belze," affirmed Number I, inviting herself to sit in Number II's desk. "I'll increase surveillance on Nizer, Jenos, Ash, and Heartnet. Go ahead and dispatch the appropriate Erasers to handle the other Gemstone operations." Belze left immediately and Creed nearly followed suit until Sephiria motioned for him to stay. The Eraser tentatively approached the desk. "Diskenth, you've worked with both Hazard and Heartnet before. Therefore, you know that they are the highest risk Numbers we have, and you understand that both will require more surveillance than the others. Since you reported back successfully from the Luster Corps meeting, I'm allowing you first choice of who you will watch and essentially partner up with."

As he pondered, Creed took a seat in front of Sephiria. Who he chose to defend could make or break the entire Chronos organization. Of the two, Jenos would pose the greatest liability if he were to fall into Luster hands. It was widely known that any bloodlust he had was exponentially overshadowed by his romantic lust. Jenos had been on the brink of expulsion twice for having failed his mission, and both times a woman from the opposing side had been involved. The only reason he had been spared was because he was, in Number I's words, "indispensable", though Creed suspected that Sephiria Arks had a soft spot for Number VII. An Eraser who looked after the welfare of one of Cerberus' heads would be well looked upon, and it seemed the logical thing to do.

But something in Creed's gut told him otherwise. Now that he thought about it, targeting Jenos would be too obvious. There were enough people concerned about Hazard's playboy lifestyle without Creed being assigned to babysit him. No, the one that Chronos ought to worry about was Train Heartnet. Loners like him were hard to track down, but much easier to topple if found. Besides, professional protocol aside, Creed found himself very attracted to the Black Cat, and not just physically either. There was something in the way he carried out orders and never let his emotions corrupt his judgment. And those eyes…they were the eyes of a genuine killer. Most others would be frightened by those hard, gilded eyes, but Creed was nothing short of fascinated. To be able to work with a man of Train Heartnet's caliber would be to work with and learn about the mind of the most promising assassin in the entire Chronos organization. His charming looks would merely be an added bonus.

Creed had come to a decision.


End file.
